AQUESTIONOFLOYALTY

I no longer travel extensively on business, but I have been a British Airways Gold cardholder for many years. Although I have accumulated slightly more than 90 per cent of the tier points necessary to be awarded a lifetime Gold card, I was quite relaxed about the situation because British Airways quite clearly states on its website that all flights are taken into account from the date you joined the Executive Club.

I joined the then Executive Club in 1980, nine years before BA started allocating and recording points. The website makes no differentiation, therefore I assumed that I would be credited with the numerous flights, especially to the US and Far East, during those early nine years.

I have spoken numerous times to the Executive Club and it appears that they have unilaterally decided that there was no such thing as the Executive Club before 1989, but there was – as I’m sure many fellow readers will remember.

I eventually received an email from the Executive Club stating: “Flights taken under the previous scheme before it became the Executive Club did not earn any points”. What previous scheme?

Changing the rules should not be a reason for BA to discriminate against its loyal customers, especially as its website clearly states: “Lifetime tier points are the cumulative total tier points a member has earned since joining the Executive Club.”

I joined in 1980, when we had to pay for membership. There is no exclusion or qualification in BA’s rules that should prevent me being credited for travel during the early years of my membership. In fact, there was an article in Business Traveller in September 2013 stating that, “in addition to annual tier points, members will be rewarded for the points they have built up over their entire membership”.

Loyalty should work both ways, and I would ask BA to do the right thing. Charles M Hogarth, Scotland